After growing over the winter, oyster gardeners return their oysters to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation which wil plan them in sanctuary reefs. (Lloyd Fox/Batimore Sun video)

After growing over the winter, oyster gardeners return their oysters to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation which wil plan them in sanctuary reefs. (Lloyd Fox/Batimore Sun video)

Peter CrispinoFor The Baltimore Sun

More information on oyster gardening is available at cbf.org, or via email at MDRestoration@cbf.org.

With her 8-year-old son, Eddy, and several hundred adolescent oysters in tow, Suzanne Goll pulled into the gravel parking lot at Londontowne Community Pier in Edgewater and watched a trio of workers unshackle zip ties on her three oyster cages.

They dumped the occupants into 5-gallon buckets and hauled them to a skiff that would transport the mollusks on the final leg of a 10-month journey.

Each fall, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation provides scores of oyster spat to volunteers like Goll, who are deputized to grow the oysters through the winter along their local shoreline. When the weather turns warmer, foundation staff members collect the creatures — which have grown considerably — and escort them to sanctuary reefs in the bay and its tributaries.

Last year, oyster gardeners helped raise more than 230,000 oysters for reintroduction into the estuary, often back into the waters where they grew.

Goll's oysters had a short commute to their new home, just a few hundred yards offshore in the middle of Glebe Bay on the South River.

"This is nice because you can see the reef right from where you're dropping them off," said Patrick Beall, an oyster-restoration specialist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun

Beverly Depietropaolo of Crownsville was given the opportunity to dump the oysters she raised on to an oyster reef in the Glebe Bay. Oyster gardeners return oysters to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation which will plant them on sanctuary reefs, where they can live, filter, and reproduce among other oysters.

Beverly Depietropaolo of Crownsville was given the opportunity to dump the oysters she raised on to an oyster reef in the Glebe Bay. Oyster gardeners return oysters to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation which will plant them on sanctuary reefs, where they can live, filter, and reproduce among other oysters.

(Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun)

"When people ask where their oysters are going, you can say, 'Right there,'" Beall said, pointing at the buoys bobbing just offshore. "They're usually pretty excited about that."

Oyster restoration has become a key component in the continuing effort to nurse the Chesapeake Bay back to health. Oysters are filter feeders: They remove plankton, phosphates and other pollutants from the water. Studies have shown that one oyster filters 50 gallons of water per day.

"In the last 10 years, we've done quite a bit of restoration work to really push these sanctuary reefs," Beall said. "I really feel like we're starting to get to a point now where we can see some good stuff and some positive feedback from the community."

Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun

Suzanne Goll (L) of Edgewater brings back the oysters she raised as she gets help from Lynette Tully (R) of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as they unload them from Goll's car. Oyster gardeners return oysters to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation which will plant them on sanctuary reefs, where they can live, filter, and reproduce among other oysters.

Suzanne Goll (L) of Edgewater brings back the oysters she raised as she gets help from Lynette Tully (R) of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as they unload them from Goll's car. Oyster gardeners return oysters to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation which will plant them on sanctuary reefs, where they can live, filter, and reproduce among other oysters.

(Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun)

Tuesday's collection took place just hours after the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science gave the bay's health a "C" in its annual report, the highest score since 2002 and third-best in three decades.

At the Londontowne pier — the first of five collection points this spring — the progress is palpable. The sanctuary reef, Beall said, "is doing fantastic, and it's 100 percent because of oyster gardeners putting in their time and their effort, their energy, to grow and plant and help us raise these oysters to go back out here."

Oyster gardening offers an opportunity to assist in bay restoration while also improving the quality of their local waterways. The sanctuary reefs that dot the bay's tributaries and inlets not only clear the water of pollutants but can help restore the fish population.

"The impact of habitat loss is huge on all species, not just oysters," said Keith Johnson, an assistant professor of biology at Stevenson University. "Blue crab, rockfish and all kinds of species that people like — part of their life cycle is based on oyster reefs. They feed and live around them ... so the oysters are important on a lot of levels, not just what they do as far as filtering."

As oyster gardeners delivered their stocks Tuesday, Johnson surveyed each owner on the habitat around his or her garden, then placed a handful of oysters into a plastic bag and labeled each one.

Johnson and his students study and map oyster growth throughout the estuary, and the oyster gardening program provides valuable insight into each waterway.

"The idea is if we can match growth with conditions in the general area, we can come up with suggestions for where would be the best place to grow a reef," Johnson said. "Part of restoration is trying to get the most bang for your buck that you can, and so some of that comes down to being smart with placement."

Oyster gardening demands a little labor on the volunteers' part — Goll estimated that she spent eight to 10 hours tending to the oysters last winter.

"During the first couple of months, you might pay a little more attention, but once the winter hits, then you don't really have to do anything except just make sure they stay in the water," Goll said.

For rookie oyster gardeners, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation offers an introductory workshop each fall, as well as online resources to help along the way. More information on the program is available at the foundation's website, cbf.org, or by emailing MDRestoration@cbf.org, with "oyster gardening" in the subject line.

Dan Johannes, a member of the Oyster Restoration Team, said once newcomers start oyster gardening, it often becomes a source of contagious enthusiasm.

"The big thing is, you watch the people come in, they're really passionate about the oysters, they go out and tell their friends," Johannes said. "That word of mouth is really probably more important than just the sheer number we get. It gives people a sense of ownership with the bay."

"You get kind of tired of just writing a check, like that's all I ever do, and I wanted to do a little bit more and actually see what's happening, so I started cruising the Chesapeake Bay Foundation website and saw how you can volunteer," said Beverly Depietropaolo. She arrived Tuesday with her husband, Eric, hauling four cages full of oysters they grew in Clements Creek just off the Severn River in Annapolis.

Soon after unloading their cargo, the Depietropaolos hopped aboard the restoration team's skiff and escorted their oysters to their new home on the sanctuary reef.

Once the boat reached the buoys, the oysters were dumped overboard, sank gently toward the reef, and disappeared from view.